DR RAYMOND FORDE has been returned as president of the Barbados Tennis Association (BTA) for another two-year term.
Forde, who has held the position for the past 13 years, was re-elected unopposed at the annual general meeting earlier this month at the Barbados Olympic Association’s headquarters.
Other members of the council for the 2012/2013 period are vice-presidents Sandra Osborne and Patricia Murray; secretary Eleanor Browne; assistant secretary Margot Thomson; treasurer Helen Roper and councillors Christopher Cadogan, Carole Callender, Duncan Evanson, Richele LeSaldo, and Stephen Slocombe.
In his address to the membership, Dr Forde said that in spite of the hard economic times, the BTA was still seeking new corporate sponsors to assist with the development of tennis, especially at the junior level.
He added that the association also continued to face challenges with the high travel costs incurred in sending teams to overseas events, but hoped that parents would further assist in contributing to these expenses in order that promising juniors would not miss out on the experience of playing teams from other parts of the region.
He also thanked the Barbados Olympic Association, the National Sports Council and the International Tennis Federation (ITF) for their continuing support of the association.
Dr Forde also alluded to the ITF’s forthcoming global launch of Tennis Xpress, a starter programme for adults, and said the association planned to hold a “Day of Tennis” in early 2013 for newcomers to try out the sport. (PR/SAT)
